OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to safely reduce the number of peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) inserted in infants with umbilical venous catheter using quality improvement methods.

STUDY DESIGN: In a tertiary neonatal intensive care unit, a questionnaire designed to prompt critical thinking around the decision to place a PICC, along with an updated standardized feeding guideline was introduced. PICC insertion in 86 infants with umbilical venous catheter (pre intervention) with birth weight 1000-1500 g were compared with 115 infants (post intervention) using Fisher’s exact test.